Articles by Steven Gilchrist

From 1932 to 1972, the United States Public Health Service conducted a secretive experiment called “The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.”   In 1932, at the beginning of the Study an effective known treatment for syphilis did not exist.   By conducting the study, the U.S. Public Health Service wanted to investigate the progression and effects of syphilis – without treatment.   The study was administered at The Tuskegee Institute in Macon County, Alabama.   600 men were recruited to participate in the study.   399 participants already had syphilis and the remaining 201 did not have syphilis. All of the men in the study were African Americans and most were impoverished and illiterate sharecroppers from Macon County.   The clinical researchers informed the men that they were being treated for “bad blood.”   The researchers never informed the men that they were not being given adequate treatment for syphilis.   The men wer...

Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen (March 27, 1845 - February 10, 1923) was a German mechanical engineer and physicist.  In 1869, he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich.  Rontgen is most well-known for creating X-rays.  For this creation, Rontgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.  For his scientific research, Rontgen is known as the father of diagnostic radiology – the medical specialty which uses imaging to diagnose diseases.  There is a collection of Rontgen’s papers at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.  Rontgen Peak in Antarctica is named after Wilhelm Rontgen.  In 2004, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) named element 111, roentgenium, after Wilhelm Rontgen.

Vivien Theodore Thomas (1910 – 1985) was born in New Iberia, Louisiana.   Despite only having a high school education, Thomas achieved several accomplishments in the medical field.   Thomas was a surgical technician who developed medical procedures used to treat blue baby syndrome during the 1940s.   Thomas’ pioneering research was used to devise numerous surgical techniques for heart conditions. Thomas worked at Johns Hopkins University for 35 years as the assistant to surgeon Alfred Blalock.   In 1976, Thomas was awarded with an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins and named an instructor of surgery for the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.   What makes Thomas’ life story so unique is that he was the grandson of a slave and despite enduring poverty and racism he worked with Dr. Blalock to create groundbreaking research for complex surgical procedures.   For example, Thomas’ research on crush syndrome helped save thousands of soldiers lives ...